After a bit of a roller coaster of rumors, real news officially broke that junior WR Oliver Martin has entered his name to the NCAA transfer portal.
Martin was seen as a potential impact player this fall in Josh Gattis’ new high octane passing offense after making spotty splash players last fall in Ann Arbor. But even after a strong spring, things clearly didn’t go as planned.
Message board rumors broke of him potentially transferring last week when players first started reporting to the team and were then guessed about on Twitter. But those rumors looked to possibly go away after he eventually reported to the team and was seen in a photo with the rest of the receiver corps. However, whether it was homesickness or looking for a different opportunity, he decided that Michigan wasn’t for him.
Multiple reports from legit sources then came out that he decided to enter the transfer portal. Most believe he’ll end up playing ball back in/near Iowa, with the Hawkeyes as the most obvious prediction.
Martin was a four-star, top 175 receiver that committed to Michigan just days before National Signing Day 2017. It was a really good recruiting win for Harbaugh and the Wolverines in the stacked 2017 receiver class.
In his two years in the winged helmet, Martin redshirted his freshmen season and then hauled in 11 catches for 125 yards and one touchdown against Rutgers.
With his transfer, Michigan now has nine scholarship receivers including five true freshmen. Junior standouts Donovan Peoples-Jones, Nico Collins and Tarik Black will look to lead the passing game with sophomore Ronnie Bell and early enrollee Mike Sainristil are expected to make big impacts this fall.
Photo Credit: Patrick Barron/MGoBlog
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